HV 8363 
1882 

Copy 1 





REPORT 



STATE PENITENTIARIES. 



MfiRCH 1. 1882 







feb-rSb- 



AUSTIN : 

STATE PRINTING-OFFICE, D. & D. INSTITUTION. 
1882. 



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REPORT 



STATE PENITENTIARIES. 



MSRCH 1, 1882 




AUSTIN: 

STATE PRINTING-OFFICE, D. & D. INSTITUTION. 
1882. 



STATE PENITENTIARIES. 



REPORT OF THE PENITENTIARY BOARD. 

The State of Texas, ) 
Austin, March 1, 1882. j 
To the honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Texas 

in Legislature assembled: 

The Penitentiary Board, created by act of the Seventeenth Legislature, 
approved March 17, 1881, and composed of the Governor, Treasurer, and 
Superintendent of Penitentiaries, respectfully submit this report. 

The first consideration of the Board was as to the best means to be 
adopted to carry out in good faith the provisions of the act creating the 
Board, and especially section 80 thereof, which requires that on the first day 
of January, 1882, or as soon thereafter as practicable, the said Board should 
provide that as many convicts as can be comfortably accommodated and 
profitably employed be confined within the walls of the penitentiaries. The 
penitentiary at Huntsville already had as many convicts within the walls 
as there was room for. In order to accommodate a large population it 
would necessarily be compelled to have both more cell room and shop 
room. 

The Rusk Penitentiary was not fully completed and needed additional 
improvements. There was no railroad communication with Rusk, and at 
the time no immediate prospect for any. The convict labor, too, had all 
been leased to Messrs. Cunningham & Ellis until January 1, 1883, and to 
attempt to take any of it, without their consent, to place in the Rusk Peni- 
tentiary, might engender troublesome complications; hence, all things con- 
sidered, the Board concluded that it would be inexpedient and impractica- 
ble to carry out the requirements of said article at the date specified there- 
in. We therefore resolved to make such additions and improvements at 
Huntsville and Rusk as would enable us to carry out the requirements im- 
posed on us, by January 1, 1883, to the extent that the means at our dispo- 
sal would warrant. 

The following means were placed at the disposal of the Board to carry 
out the objects of the law, viz: For completing improvements at Rusk 



± WATS PESlTKNTTAJtlffi 

: : :_- : ;:-.:.- - ■ . - __ ^ _ ^-- ^- --_ -_ r -___. 

proveinent and aecority : the State Penitentiaries the proeee 

I" — - letermine*] i ■ . - uh tin lance with the reeomme 

made by the Leg dative 'ommittee the penitentiary in bxj T 

the following improvements si sk Penitentiary 

1. Abtmd tflfc on ontside : :' nek » west walled 

yard : : :.: "^ a . ' -. yw the i .." sent le 

r wa -r. : n the rfaieh was 

■tug an lea: tnd in _ 

A — :i : „" _ .: : . dldings and shops to pro- 

ject the form Ldings 

Si miae the ai & hall >f the prison yard and streets to prevent 

sarne :: mi washing mg 

4. To provide s . -" ■ : iveying 

from tne h " . . . the the Ldings with 

and profce 

i large as 

These im 3 at a fair price by 31 

- I sstbns ■ 

r Mr. J. L The -" : the 

same - - $U .' '—-- ' . >l wbd n l theproees 

- ' ~ " h l the $35 
It w i free outlet fix m the peni- 

tentiary, to pur : h ise - ~ me t thirty-eight 

mediately in front . _ r t 7 ramison utd __r 

aging rham & 

[n rear of the ] ry 7ir :. 

: - - in the seeon : jt | ' in from the 

- - - ^ - - Q [| - : - nake IMonal ex- 

penditure :: : m this rand until the raesti n of rail fcrs . : _ : : h 

tne | ri son was 

In regard to the Huntsville Pea the 

that in order to confine and utilize an increased number : : »n victs wit bin 
additional shops and cell room was necessary, and that they fully 
concurred with the views :: the late Board :: Z ud legs 

committee that for health, comfort an tigs should 

be provide*] ind lere Efcer the old to be converted into workshops In ac- 
cordance —. the penitentiary architect seted :o pre- 
pare plans for a complete je] . _ contain not teas than r " sells 
. planned with two wings h ^~r : arrange" 

npieted independently 
- Mr. La 
due time, presented a plan of a main cell building, with a wing 



EEPORT OF PENITENTIARY BOARD. 5 

end, with estimate of cost. The plan, as proposed, contained 560 cells, and 
tjie cost was estimated at $146,000. The main building, consisting of an 
administration building and 308 cells, was estimated to cost about $96,000. 
It was therefore determined to build the main building, leaving off the 
wings or extensions for the present. The lessees agreeing to do the work 
upon the estimates furnished, a contract was made with them, and the 
building is now in process of construction. The cell building built by 
Ward, Dewey & Co., never having been finished, and not being adapted for 
the purposes intended, has been converted into workshops. 

The duty devolved upon this board to make contract for transportation 
of convicts to the penitentiaries. After giving notice by publication, as 
required by law, for bids, the board met on June 1. 1881, to open the bids 
and award the contract. Out of ten bids received, that of Messrs. Slaughter 
& Cadenhead, of Marion county, was the lowest and best, and the con- 
tract was awarded to them at the amount of their bid, to-wit, $24.50 per 
capita. The highest bid was $34.75 per capita. 

On the fifth of October last, after the Board was fully satisfied that a 
railroad would be completed from Jacksonville to Rusk, Superintendent 
G-oree was directed by the Board to procure the services of some suitable 
and competent person to examine and report in regard to the character, 
quality and quantity of iron ore in the vicinity of the Rusk Penitentiary, 
with the view of determining the practicability of erecting a blast iron fur- 
nace in connection with said penitentiary. He secured the services of 
Col. Gr. A. Kelly, of Kelly ville, Marion county, and they spent several days 
in prospecting. Col. Kelly made a report, in which he says : 

"Iron ore of an excellent quality abounds in the entire chain of hills sur- 
rounding and in reasonable proximity to the penitentiary. The ore is of 
the brown hematite class, very rich, and will yield, after being prepared for 
the furnace, from 60 to 65 per cent of metallic iron, a high average yield 
for this class of ore in any part of the United States. From all indications 
the ore outcrop is confined to the higher crest of hills and varies in thick- 
ness from six inches to four feet. In many places, owing to the wearing 
away of the earth, the ore has broken off and tumbled down the hillsides, 
until they are covered with iron ore boulders, some of them that will weigh 
from one to ten tons. This outcrop extends with the meanderings of the 
spurs and gorges of the several chains of hills on either side until it reaches 
many miles in extent. I feel quite safe in saying that within five miles of 
the Rusk prison, owing to the zigzag formation of the face of the hills, 
there exists not less than twenty miles of the af oredescribed outcrop, which 
can be reasonably estimated at not less than twenty tons to the running 
yard or 35,200 to the mile, summing up an aggregate of 704,000 tons for 
the twenty miles, with a fair probability of the yield being five times this 
amount, as the strata evidently extends well into the "hillsides, and in many 
places, judging from appearances, running entirely through. From my ex- 



6 STATE PENITENTIARIES. 

perience in working Texas ores, I feel justified in saying that the ore will 
reduce readily, flux freely, and yield a product well adapted to all ordinary 
purposes for which iron is used." 

After the above report was made, the Board had a meeting, and the fol- 
lowing resolutions were adopted: 

1. Resolved, That whereas it was the policy of the State, in locating the 
penitentiary near Rusk, to utilize the deposits of iron ore in the vicinity 
thereof, in the manufacture of iron at said penitentiary; and whereas we 
are fully convinced, from the report of Col. G. A. Kelly, that the iron ore 
in the vicinity of said penitentiary is sufficient in quantity and quality; 
therefore it is the duty of the Penitentiary Board, so far as is in its power, 
to carry out the said policy. 

2. Resolved, That the Board proceed at once to have a blast furnace, suitable 
for the smelting of iron ore and converting it into pig iron, erected in con- 
junction with the Rusk Penitentiary, with a capacity of at least fifteen tons 
of iron ore every 24 hours. 

The Secretary of the Board was directed to procure the services 
of a competent architect to furnish plans and specifications, and esti- 
mates of cost. He has engaged the services of Mr. E. C. Darley, 
of St. Louis, who has furnished the plans and estimates. The cost 
is about $25,000. A portion of the necessary machinery has been bar- 
gained for, but we are compelled to suspend operations for the present, be- 
cause of the ruling of Acting Comptroller Sneed, that such part of the 
$35,000 appropriation as had not been expended or contracted to be ex- 
pended prior to February 28, 1882, had lapsed, and could not be used. 

The same ruling was made in regard to the $500 appropriations for 
libraries at Huntsville and Rusk. If these rulings be correct, we respect- 
fully ask your honorable bodies to place these funds again at our disposal. 

Accompanying this is a report from the Superintendent, showing the 
present condition of the penitentiaries, their capacities at present and in 
prospective, and their needs, etc., which is especially commended to your 
consideration. 

O. M. Roberts, 

Governor. 
F. R. Lubbock, 

Treasurer. 

THOS. J. GrOREE, 

Superintendent of Penitentiaries. 



REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PENITENTIARIES. 



REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF PENITENTIARIES. 

i Texas State Penitentiaries, 

Superintendent's Office, 
Huntsville, Texas, March 1, 1882. 
To Governor 0. M. Roberts, 

President of Penitentiary Board: 
Sir — The following brief report of the penitentiaries, from November 1, 
1880, the date of my last biennial report, to this date, is respectfully sub- 
mitted. 

prison population. 

Attached hereto is a table (No. 1), which will show in a condensed form 
the monthly changes in the prison population during the period embraced 
in this report: 

The total number of convicts on hand at this date 2, 132 

Distributed as follows, viz: 

In prison at Huntsville 464 

Building new railroad near Rusk 244 

On railroad construction trains 674 

On farms, mostly on Brazos river 750 



2,132 

The largest number of convicts ever on hand was 2200, January 1, 1881. 
From that date there was a gradual decrease until October 31, 1881, since 
when the increase has been rapid. A comparison of the receipts of the last 
four months with corresponding months of 1880 and 1881 shows an excess 
in favor of the last four months of 151. The same ratio of increase during 
the next ten months will give by the close of the year 2500 convicts. 

The percentage of escapes and deaths has been as usual very large. 
These are the two greatest evils resultant upon the present system of out- 
side labor. Every effort for an improvement in this respect has been made 
by the officers of the penitentiaries and the lessees without much avail. 
These evils will continue so long as so many convicts are worked on the 
outside, who ought to be on the inside. The exhibit above referred to will 
fully show from what forces and classes of convicts have been the greatest 
number of escapes and deaths. 

Being a member of the Penitentiary Board, I know that it is fully alive 



: STATE PE2s'TTKSTIAEIES. 

to the great importance and necessity of confining the largest possible num- 
ber of convicts within the walls, and to this end it has authorized improve- 
ments and additions to the prisons, both at Huntsville and Rusk. There is 
room at Rusk, with two prisoners to the cell, for about 1000 convicts. The 
new cell building at Huntsville, as contracted for. will contain 308 cells, 
and whenever finished according to the plans adopted, but which cannot be 
fully carried out because of lack of means, will contain 560 cells. The 
next question is. whether all the men, or any great number of them, who 
can be confined within the walls, can be profitably employed therein. The 
law requires that the convicts shall be profitably employed. In order that 
their labor be made profitable, they should be provided with the same 
means, machinery, etc.. as outside labor engaged in similar employments. 

"We may confine 1000 convicts, each at Rusk and Huntsville. but, to pre- 
vent their being a tax upon the people and the State, there will have to be 
provided from some source machinery and tools, to enable them to compete 
successfully with outside labor. The penitentiaries are to be leased during 
the present year, to take effect at the termination of the present lease. Can 
men of enterprise and capital be found who will agree to lease the peniten- 
tiary buildings and shops, without machinery and tools, and with 1 C : r 
even 500 convicts? If so. then the question is settled, and there will be no 
need of further action. But I apprehend that men of enterprise, who can 
command sufficient capital for such an undertaking, would rather invr;: in 
manufactories of their own. The State will have to offer an inducement for 
men of enterprise to lease its penitentiaries, and the best inducement that 
can be offered will be for the State to make liberal appropriations for equip- 
ping fully each penitentiary with such machinery as the Lessees may deem 
best adapted for the various industries that they may determine to carry on. 
When this done, require as many convicts kept within the walls as can be 
profitably employed. 

As the shop room necessary to employ any given number of convicts 
will depend very much upon the industries carried on. it is probable that 
as many or more men can be employed in a given space in a shoe factory 
than any other. 

At the Missouri penitentiary are about 950 convicts in shops, mostly shoe 
and harness shops, with a shop capacity of about 140.000 square feet. 
They complain there of the want of shop room. 

The shop capacity at Rusk is about 100.000 square feet, and at Huntsville 
about 75.000 square feet. When the new cell building is fully completed, 
and the old buildings are turned into two-story work shops, then the shop 
room at Huntsville will be increased to about 110,000 square feet. The 
above figures are given to show about what number of convicts can be em- 
ployed on the inside by the end of the year, and what amount of machinery 
is necessary to their profitable employment. There will be shop room 
in each penitentiary for at least 500 men, and the best modern machinery 



REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PENITENTIARIES. V 

should be provided to employ at least that number. I have endeavored to 
obtain some estimate of the cost of necessary machinery. One estimate 
fixes the cost of necessary wood and iron machinery to commence with at 
the Rusk Penitentiary at $36,950. Mr. J. Larmour, penitentiary archi- 
tect, in his report, dated January 1, 1881, in regard to machinery, estimates 
as follows: 

Steam power — engines and boilers complete $16,500 00 

For woolen factory. . 31,565 00 

For cotton factory, 100 looms 40,000 00 

For furniture factory 9,000 00 

For wagon factory 11,500 00 

For blacksmith shops 5,000 00 

For foundry machinery 6,500 00 

Total $120,065 00 

I have not been able to ascertain the cost of fitting up a first class shoe 
factory, but it will probably not be less than $10,000. All of the above- 
mentioned industries are well adapted to convict labor, and I have no doubt, 
with good machinery, can be made profitable. 

As you are aware, there is no machinery whatever at the Rusk Peniten- 
tiary, and Huntsville is not much better off. When Cunningham & Ellis 
leased the penitentiary the valuation of machinery turned over to them was 
as follows, viz., $45,673.56, divided as follows: 

Engine and boilers $10,000 00 

Cotton and woolen machinery 28,126 66 

All other machinery 7,546 90 

The engine, with some repairs, although in constant use for twenty-five 
years, is good. The cotton and woolen machinery is really not worth in- 
trinsically one -tenth its appraised value, and the other machinery is all 
valued high. The whole lot of machinery is not worth exceeding $15,000. 
While I will make no recommendation in regard to the exact amount to be 
appropriated for machinery, I will say that the State cannot make a better 
paying investment than $100,000 worth of machinery for each peniten- 
tiary. 

IMPROVEMENTS. 

At Huntsville, the new cell building is being constructed under the super- 
vision of Mr. J. Larmour, by the lessees. The foundations are all laid, and 
nearly two-thirds of the cells erected. With the opening of spring and dry 



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REPOET OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PENITENTIARIES. 11 

> 

FINANCIAL. 

Since November 1, 1880, the proceeds of the lease amount to $104,224 18 



The total proceeds of the present lease from January 1, 1878, 

to March 1, 1882, has been $297,264 18 

There is properly chargeable against this, for recaptures and 

stationery, etc 8,266 80 

Leaving balance $288,998 01 

About $27,000 of the above amount has been paid by the lessees in cash, 
and the balance has been or will be credited for improvements done and to 
be done at Rusk and Huntsville. It is fair to estimate that the proceeds of 
the lease for the remaining ten months will be at least $65,000. No prison 
probably in the United States can show such profits. 

TRANSPORTATION OF CONVICTS. 

The contract system continues to work well and operates a great saving 
to the State. I have approved vouchers as follows, viz: 

For Cunningham & Ellis, contractors, from November 1, 1880, 

to July 8, 1881, for 541 convicts at $39 per capita $21,099 00 

For Slaughter & Cadenhead, from July 8, 1881, to March 1, 

18S2, for 521 convicts at $24.50 per capita 12,765 50 



Total $33,864 50 

LIBRARIES. 

As you are aware, at the last session of the Legislature an appropriation 
of $500 was made for each penitentiary, for libraries. The Rusk Peniten- 
tiary not being organized, I did not deem it advisable to purchase at once. 
Have been in correspondence with different book concerns, in order to 
make best selections at lowest prices, and to expend the appropriations to 
the very best advantage. I was fully under the impression that these ap- 
propriations would be available at any time prior to February 28, 1883. 
It has been held that unless expended before March 1, 1882, they have 
lapsed. I deem these appropriations, properly expended, would be a source 
of great benefit to the convicts, and would most urgently recommend a re- 
appropriation. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Thos. J. G-oree, 
Superin tendent Penitentiaries. 



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